Ho Ho Ho!

The Christmas season is in full swing and we've been busy. Here are some sights of the season.

The Seattle holiday parade was fun.

After Santa made his appearance, almost everyone started shopping.

We went to Benaroya Hall where we enjoyed a Christmas concert, as well as a rather impressive glass sculpture suspended from the ceiling.

Benaroya Hall was decked out for the season.

We were inspired to start on our own decorations



The Poulsbo Yacht Club showed their spirit with a lighted boat parade. We decided it was warmer (and drier) to stay on shore this year.

There are plenty of Christmas tree farms in our area, so we visited one and selected our tree.

The finished product.  Ready for Santa!

Have a great holiday season.

La Nina Strikes

We've been told that the Seattle area doesn't get snow very often.  That hasn't been our experience.  Our first winter, when we lived in Mukilteo, it snowed up to a foot or more on a couple of occasions.  It seemed the ground was covered with the white stuff more than it wasn't that winter.

  It is very pretty when it snows here, and equally important, when it is snowing, it is not raining.  It breaks up the monotony.  But this was an anomaly.  Or so we were told.

This year the forecasters have been warning of a colder, snowier winter than normal due to a La Nina weather pattern.  This past week the predictions bore out as we had a pre-Thanksgiving snowstorm that brought autumn to an abrupt end. 

It started with what looked like was going to be just a dusting.  Nothing too significant.

But around noon on Monday, it started snowing again.

And kept snowing.

And just kept snowing.

The winds picked and the temperature dropped.

By Monday evening, due to numerous downed power lines, we found ourselves without electricity (along with 100,000 other families).

Thanks to a gas fireplace and gas stove top, we were able to get through by doing some indoor camping.

The next morning the temperatures were even lower.

 It was time for Baylee to put on her winter jacket.  The jury is still out on whether or not she likes her jacket.

As we headed into the second night without electricity, we were getting used to the routine.  Hard working crews were able to restore power for most of the area after about 32 hours and saved a lot of holiday dinners.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Orion and Yukon

Things are a little slow around here in rural Kitsap County this time of year.  Unless you like going to holiday craft fairs and bazaars.  Plenty of those.  Pleennnnty.  However, I did manage to find one that stood out from the others a couple of weeks ago when Matt was in Japan.  It had a "green and global" theme featuring items and ideas designed to help out the environment.  I went so I could meet these guys.

 This is Orion, a great horned owl.

And this is Yukon, a red-tailed hawk.

Both Orion and Yukon are denizens of the West Sound Wildlife Shelter .  The shelter provides care and rehabilitation to injured, orphaned, or sick wild animals.  After rehab, the animals are then re-released into the wild.  Unfortunately, both Orion and Yukon sustained permanent wing damage when they were injured, and therefore, they cannot be released into the woods.  Instead, they are cared for at the shelter and are being trained to participate in the education and public outreach programs offered by the shelter.

Here is Orion with his trainer and handler, Michael.  Michael explained that even though he looks bigger, Orion only weighs about 4 pounds.  I wouldn't want to get in the way of those claws though.

Lynn is Yukon's trainer.  Because becoming an education animal does not come easily to birds of prey, it takes a lot of training (and patience) to accomplish what Yukon is doing here, just being out in front of people.  He is in his second year of training and this was one of the first times he has been " on stage" so far.  He did really good and even showed off some of his stubbornness getting in and out of his carrier cage.  That allowed the audience to see Lynn's patience.

It was a treat to be able to see these birds up close and as we approach Thanksgiving, one of the things I am grateful for are people and organizations like the wildlife center who provide such a valuable service for both wildlife and people.

48 Hours.....in Japan

  

 

Matt decided he wanted some Japanese food this past weekend, so he flew to Tokyo for an authentic meal.  OK, not really.  However, he did fly to Japan for work.  While it may sound exciting, unfortunately he was only there for 48 hours with most of his time taken up with meetings.  This was his first time in Japan so he took what pictures he could.  And he did get a couple of meals while he was there and reports that he enjoyed the Japanese sushi.

Here he is about to leave for the airport.  Hey Baylee---where do you think you are going?  Get back here. Nice try though.

The trip started on Saturday with a ten and a half hour flight. Several crossword puzzles, two movies, lots of reading and a couple naps later it was Sunday night thanks to crossing the international date line. Once through customs, it was another two hours by mini-bus to the U.S naval base at Yokosuka.

Despite the work schedule, there was time for one trip into the city for dinner.
 

From the selection above the choice was a large plate of udon noodles, tempura and sushi.

Back at the airport, the food selection was a little more familiar. Matt went for a bowl of noodles instead.

The flight home was shorter, only eight and a half hours. And thanks again to the date line, the plane left on Tuesday afternoon and arrived on Tuesday morning. It was a brief trip, and very interesting. But after all that time in an airplane, staying closer to home next weekend sounds really good!

Halloween

The rainy season has arrived here in western Washington.  Good-bye sunglasses. Hello vitamin D supplement.  To mark what will probably be our last sailing adventure for a few months, we participated in the final Fall race at Poulsbo Yacht Club.  And because it was Halloween, we donned costumes.

Carol the witch tried to cast a spell on the competition in order to gain an edge on the competition.  The spell back fired.

 Matt's rocker costume seemed to distract the other racers, at least momentarily. He resembled Ozzy Osbourne.

While not a big fan of the hair, Matt wore it very well!

Later in the day, we went downtown where the merchants were giving out candy. The main street was closed for the occasion and there were trick-or-treaters everywhere.

Lots of cute costumes and plenty of candy for all.  

Happy November!